Users of online search systems often benefit from automated assistance in formulating queries. For example, once a user submits a query, existing web search engines typically offer a set of query suggestions (sometimes called “Related Searches”) that provide such assistance by helping a user narrow the focus of a search, or explore different aspects of an active search task.
Related searches are based on the query that a user submits, and thus are only offered to users when they are on a search engine result page returned in response to the query. However, most page views are not a direct result of querying a search engine. Instead, most pages are reached by clicking a search result on a search engine result page, browsing via hyperlinks on non-search engine result pages, or through some other means, such as selecting from among saved favorites bookmarks, typing a URL directly into a Web browser address bar, opening a link in email, and so forth.
Search assistance beyond the search engine result page is currently limited to the provision of a search box in web browsers and optional browser toolbars, and the suggestion of possible query completions in a drop-down menu while typing a query. In the Internet Explorer Web browser, “accelerators” let users select text on a web page and search for content based upon that selected text.
While these tools are useful navigational aids, to use these tools, users need to know about and remember their existence and purpose. Moreover, users still need to formulate the initial queries on their own. Formulating a good query remains challenging, especially during exploratory search scenarios.